I know there are far more important issues facing Burnaby residents right now with COVID-19, but that doesn’t mean we have to let society fall into disarray.
Case in point, the excessive dumping I’ve been seeing lately as I drive around our community taking photos for the newspaper.
One example was these mattresses someone dumped at Warner Loat Park in North Burnaby.
This was one of my favourite haunts as a child. I could ride my bike there in just a few minutes. It sits next to Metro Vancouver’s Burnaby Lake park area. There are creeks and the lake and railway tracks, which makes the park kind of loud from time to time.
The problem is that it is hidden from the road, even more so now that so many people are staying home due to the pandemic.
That leaves these areas even more vulnerable to lazy, sleazy dumpers who treat our park areas like a trash can. Too many people are getting away with this and it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars for the City of Burnaby to deal with the fallout.
Except that the city has laid off an estimated 1,500 workers so the city staff who are remaining are stretched thin. I'm sure the city will make efforts to police this stuff and clean it up, but it's had to put extra resources into such things as ensuring people respect social distancing because too many people aren't following these things.
Come on, people, now is the time to pull together and not apart.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
